Finally I have arrived at my new home!!!

Arriving at the house I was greeted by all the members of the free range community that happen to live on our doorstep and roam about our house. First was the family of chubby and rather hairy pigs that I practically had to climb over to reach the doorstep seeing as they were too concerned with their snuffling in the mud to even notice my arrival. The naughty-looking goats loitering by the mango tree like a bunch of bored teenagers with nothing to do did seem to perk up though and made some curious noises in my direction, noises that I have since become used to as my un-asked for regular wake-up call at variations of 3, 4, or 5am in the mornings. There was a flurry of about 15 guinea fowl that came "cook-cook-cook"-ing in one long line, as though they wanted to make a small parade for my arrival which was rather kind of them, and a few skinny chickens that followed aimlessly in their wake. Then I met the wrinkly 'now you see me now you don't' lizards, the sombre and serious-looking donkeys (no surprise there really considering the size of the families they cart about town each day), the huge slow moving grumpy-looking cows, the dogs, the cat, and the ducks sunbathing out back (no joke!). I didn't meet the mouse, but I know he was here because there is mouse poo simply all over the place.

The house is orange and green, so very Ghanaian! Well, it was actually thick brown when I got here, but after a good few days of cleaning (what became my first major project and a small obsession that I called 'settling in' but what everyone else probably called OCD) the hundreds of layers of the dust that had been piling up over the harmattan season were dispersed, and I think I cleaned this place so thoroughly and with such serious energy and determination that the dust would not now dare even pass by this house again, never mind even try to come in!

In terms of star rating I could give it a comfortable and happy two (raised from a low one after my cleaning spree). We have water, which we have a bit of a system for collecting, storing and using that I actually quite like as it has honestly made me appreciate it more; the chore of organising things so that I can have a shower / go to the loo / wsh my hands / wash the pots etc etc is a regular reminder that I am living in relative luxury here. I am also getting used to the bucket-baths because I'm sometimes just far too heat exhausted (some ould call it lazy!)to go through the whole rigmarole! We also do have electricity, which is great, and although there are often power-cuts over the weekends and then randomly during the week, I'm just happy that I don't have to live by candle light the whole time, especially as its dark at 6!

It has taken me some time to get used to the noises around and about the house, especially at night. At first I thought I was sharing my room with two chickens stuck inside my wardrobe. I could hear them clucking away all night long, but no matter where I looked I could not find them. After about two days I concluded they must chickens on the roof. The third day I thought maybe it's the ghosts of chickens come to haunt me in anticipation that I'm going to be living on a diet of their fellow chick friends for pretty much the rest of the year! The fourth day I just thought sod it maybe I'm just going mad. And sometime after that I was kindly informed that this is the noise of cheeky little Gecko's that live with us in this house. Ah. Well that makes sense. I mean, what other noise would I be expecting them to make other than your average bird-type clucking sound?!

To balance things out, I share the rest of the house with friend and fellow VSO volunteer Tom, a wise Kenyan who has so far enlightened me to some of the African ways of looking at the world. Topics of evening ramblings have so far included why it's important to shift gear and drive in the slow lane in Ghana (metaphorically speaking that is, on the actual roads Ghanaians are not prone to following any type of rules or speed limits!), why some of the large baobab trees have large strings tied around them, the intricacies of funeral life here in Ghana (a hugely important ceremony here), and, most importantly of course, how to kill, prepare and cook 'bushmeat'. So in both a cultural and practical sense he is great to have around. I am yet to figure out what I can share with him in return, apart from being able to make a good cup of good old English tea, but am working on it.

Slowly but surely I think this place could start to feel like home J.

Peace and love (as it says on the blue plastic chairs in my living room),

Emma

Xxx